Improvement in railroad-car brakes



-G. WESTINGHOUSE, Jr.

Railroad-Car Brakes.

N0. 142,600. PatentedSeptmber9,l873.

GEORGE 'WESTINGHOUSE J It., OF PITTSBURG, PENNSYLVANIA.

`IMPROVEIWENT IN RAILROAD-CAR BRAKES.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 42,600, dated September9, 1873; application filed March 8, 1873.

To all whom it may concern:

Bc it known that I, GEORGE WEsTINe- HOUSE, Jr., of Pittsburg, in thecounty of Allegheny and State of Pennsylvania, have invented a new anduseful Improvement in Railroad-Gar Brakes 5 and I do hereby declare thefollowing to be a full, clear, and exact description thereof, referencebeing had to the accom` panying drawing making a part of thisspecification, in which- Figure 1 is a perspective view of my improvedbrakebar with shoes attached. Fig.

2 shows in section the seating of the ends of the braces. Fig. 3 is-asectional view through the brake shoe and holder just inside the fiangcdheads of the tie-rods. Fig. 4 is an outside view of one shoe-holder andshoe. Fig. 5 is an end view, to a less scale, of the apparatus asvapplied to a truck; and Fig. 6 illustrates the construction ofauxiliary han gA4 ers and clamps for holding the tie rods and bracestogether. Y

Like letters of reference indicate like parts in each. v

My invention relates to the construction of an improved brake-bar to animproved device for fastening the removable shoe, and to animprovementin connecting said devices with each other and with the truck.

To enable others skilled in the artrto make and use my invention, I willdescribe its con; struction and mode of operation.

In the construction of the brake-bar I make use of the truss principle.As shown in the drawings, the `shoe-holders b b are connected by one ormore tie-rods, a a, on the ends of which are the upset heads c. Notchesc c are cut in the edges of the holders b, at suitable points, of propersize, to admit the rods a, but not large enough to take in the heads a;but

such notches are reamed out at their innerends, and on the outer facesof the holders sufficiently to form seats c for the heads a. These headsa being so seated are prevented from being moved laterally out of place,or from being removed at all, so long as the truss is kept properlytightened up. The strain in the opposite direction is sustained by thebraces b b', which, for ordinary purposes, may consist of sections orlengths of gas-pipe, and which each have a bearing at one end against ashoe-holder, and at the other end they bear directly, on the archprinciple, against each other, or indirectly against an interposedblock, d', of the frame d, which latter may be of any suitableconstruction for holding the tie rods and braces in the proper relationwith each other. In the edge of each holder b, next thc wheel, is a deeprecess, e, in which is the `lower end or eye of the usual hanger f. The

shoe g is made removable, and with a lug, c, which entering the recess ckeeps that end of the hanger f in proper position. At or near the upperand lower ends of the back face of each shoe, g, is an overhanging lip,s, which constitutes mechanically a groove, b'ymeans of which groovesthe shoes are slid onto and held by the holders b; but these grooves areclosed at their outer ends, as at s', so that the shoes are preventedfrom sliding Aon too far. A lug, g', is also made to project from theouter edge of the rear face of each shoe in proper position to be caughtby a rotating hook, 7i, which, while the shoe isbein g slipped on,stands in the position shown by dotted lines in Fig. 4, and, after theshoe is in position, is turned down, as shown in full lines. This hookis screwed into, or in other suitable manner secured to, the holder b,and when turned down prevents the shoe from coming off.

The entire device is hung to the truck, as shown in Fig. 5, by thehangers f, and also by a hanger, m, which is connected, by an arm, m',with the middle point or arch of the trussbar, and extends thence to theend of a spring, u, which latter is fastened to and extends forward orback from the truck-frame B. These hangers are all arranged so that whenthe shoes are applied to the wheels D they will be inclined toward thewheel; hence, when the brakes are let off, the brake bar and shoes willswing clear of the wheels by their own weight. The additional hanger mis to prc= vent the brake-bar from tilting or rocking on its axis,whereby, if it were not prevented, the upper or lower ends of the shoeswould be liable to come in contact with the wheels, even when the brakesare oft The spring a is made with just sufficient elasticityto enablethe shoes to be brought fairly against the wheels, notwithstanding thevarying relative position of shoes and wheels, resulting from thevarying load and varying elasticity of the main oar-spings; but, ifother mode of providing for this variation be employed, a rigid arm maybe substituted for the spring n. The hangers m and f constitute, infact, what is known as a parallel motion. The hangers, instead of beingconnected at their upper ends to the truck, may depend from any fixedpart of the car.

As an additional security against danger from accident, in case oneofthe shoe-holders becomes broken, I arrange a clamping device on eachend of the compound brake-bar in about the positions shown by dottedlines in Fig. 1. This device, as illustrated in Fig. 6, consists of anouter band, c, which is slipped on over the tie rods and braces beforethe shoe-holder is attached, and which is of proper form for clampingonto all three. A block, 1^, made with seats for the tie rods andbraces, is inserted from the opposite direction inside the band. AU-shaped clamp, r1, secured by a bolt, r2, holds the two together, sothat they shall keep the tie rods and braces in the proper relativeposition in case of accident to the end holders. From this clamp r1 ahan ger, j", may extend to the truck above, and constitute an auxiliaryor safety hanger in case of accident to any of the other hangers.

What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. The combination ofthe tie-rods a a, each having upset heads af, theshoe-holders b b having lateral recesses for the insertion of thetie-rods, and the braces b b bearing against the inside of theshoe-holders, whereby the parts named are held in place solely by thetightening of the braces, substantially as dcscribed.

2. A shoe-holder having one or more rccesscs, c c, each recess having alateral opening of proper size to admit the tie-rod, but not the head,and also having a seat, c', for the heads a', such that the heads cannotbe removed laterally therefrom, substantially as described.

3. The shoes g, having grooves which are closed at their outer ends, asshown at s s', and also each having a lug, g', in combination withholders b, each provided with a rotating hook, h, substantially asdescribed.

4. rlhe lug c', on the rear face of the shoe, suitably arranged to enterthe recess c and hold the lower end or eye of the hanger in place,substantially as described.

5. The hanger m, having a connection at or from its lower end to themiddle of the brakebar, and at its upper end being connected to a springwhich leads from a fixed part of the truck or car, substantially as andfor the purposes set forth.

6. The clamp device, consisting of a band, n, and block r, arranged incombination with the tie and brace rod or rods of a truss brakebar,substantially as set forth.

In testimony whereof I, the said GEORGE WEs'rINGHoUsE, Jr., havehereunto set my hand.

GEO. WESTINGIIOUSE, Jn.

Witnesses:

G. H. Gnnisrv, A. S. NICHOLSON.

